Victorian Costuming

A day of potential posts!

I had a full day on Saturday. It proved to be full of material worthy of a post. I don’t know which item to start with! Let me see….hmmmm. How about this one.

I went to the Canadian Costume Museum and one of my goals was to find a dress that I only had the chance to peek at previously but REALLY wanted to check out in detail. And I was able to find it! It is so delicious! It is a taffeta wedding gown from 1871-73.The color is so wonderful! Lilac…just like my favorite flowers. The darker trim is velvet. The tassels have a fuzzy strand between themselves and the edge they are attached to.Look at the inside of the sleeve! Little pleated ruffles in white and a wide (3-4 inches) lace inner sleeve.Here is the side view. I wish I had a bustle to show it to its best advantage. The over skirt has the velvet and tassel detail with a bow added.The back view shows off the train.The back of the bodice has the same trim carried through.The bow matches the bow on the over skirt. I like how the taffeta and velvet are blended together…especially at the knot. I like this dress. I’d really love to copy it exactly!